Feed tray for duplicating machines



March 19, 1957 R. M. FORD EIAL. 2,785,893

FEED TRAY FOR DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 6, 1953 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Awoz avs March 19, 1957 F ETAL 2,785,893

FEED TRAY FOR DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS W Fmcl DW e-5 @mw w Wm ATTORNEYS- United States Patent 6 FEED TRAY FOR DUPLICATING MACHINES Ronald Max Ford and Denis Percy Crane, Olton, England; said Crane assignor to Frank R. Ford Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Application October 6, H53, Serial No. 384,468

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 10, 1952 2 Claims. (Cl. 271-61) The present invention relates to feed trays primarily for duplicating printing or the like machines, hereinafter referred to as duplicating machines, in which sheets of paper or the like sheet material are required to be fed with motion parallel to the general plane of the tray from one end thereof.

More specially the invention is concerned with that kind of feed tray, hereinafter referred to as being of the kind specified, in which guide members or fences are provided at the sheet-supporting or upper face of the tray, these guide members or fences extending longitudinally of the direction of intended feed and being spaced apart laterally so that they are adapted to engage opposite edges of the sheets, means being provided to move the individual guide members or fences towards and away from the longitudinal centre of the tray in unison so that whatever may be the width of the particular sheets in use they are always accurately centred in relation to said centre.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new or improved feed tray, especially in regard to the simplicity and rapidity with which adjustment of the guide members or fences may be efiected.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for adjusting the position of the guide members or fences permitting rapid and accurate setting of the contact pressure which these guide members and fences make with the edges of cap sheets more especially for the purpose of ensuring or permitting efiicient and proper operation of automatic sheet feeding means.

A further object of the invention is to provide im proved means for exerting pressure contact with the sheet edges at selected positions lengthwise of the feed tray to promote or to ensure or promote efiicient or proper operation of an automatic sheet feeding device for differing lengths of copy sheets.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of one construction of feed tray according to the present invention as applied to a duplicating machine.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same construction.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale showing the construction and arrangement of the sheet retention members provided in association with the upright flanges of the guide members or fences of the feed tray.

Figure 4 is a further fragmentary view illustrated in plan, the parts shown in Figure 5 in their assembled portion.

Figure 5 is an inverted plan view of the feed-tray on an enlarged scale, and

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 2 but on the same scale as Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view of an alternative means of correlating movements of the guide members or fences.

In the construction illustrated the feed tray is shown ice 2 applied to a duplicating machine 10 equipped with a sheet feeding device 11 of the kind comprising one or more rollers 12 adapted to engage with the topmost sheet 13 on the feed tray for the purpose of displacing same endwise.

The base portion 14 of the tray may be formed of a metal plate of suitable thickness to provide the necessary rigidity and strength, for example, about A" thick, and this plate may be generally rectangular as viewed in plan, one of the shorter edges being adapted to be disposed adjacent to the machine or appliance and the other shorter edge 15 preferably of somewhat arcuate form being nearest the operator.

On the upper or sheet supporting face of this plate are provided a pair of guide members or fences 16, 17, which are spaced apart laterally and are adapted to engage with the edges of a stack of sheets placed on the upper surface of the table as indicated in broken lines (Fig. l) for the purpose of locating this stack in predetermined central relation to the feed tray as a whole. The guide members or fences are adjustable towards and away from the centre of the feed tray in unison so that whatever the Width of the sheets, these are always centrally located on the tray.

To permit the guide members or fences to be so moved, the plate forming the base of the feed tray is provided with laterally extending guideways conveniently formed as slots. These may be perpendicular to the length of the tray and there may be two separate slots 18, 19, each extending from the central region of the tray to a position near one of the longitudinal edges, these slots being offset or staggered in relation to each other in the longitudinal direction, for example, about 1" or other short distance, the respective slots extending to opposite sides of the tray.

In each of these slots is mounted a slide block as indicated at 20, 21 preferably of elongated rectangular form as viewed in plan, the edges of which engaged with the edges of the slot and to the upper face of each slide block is secured the associated guide member or fence 16, 17 respectively. To the under faces of the slide blocks are secured retaining plates 22, 23 which may also be of elongated rectangular form and longer than the slide block itself so as to engage with the under surface of the base of the feed tray over a sufiicient area to ensure that the slide block and hence the guide member or fence secured thereto will not rock or tilt appreciably but will be able to move only by way of sliding movement parallel to the plane of the feed tray itself.

The guide members or fences may be of angle section with flanges 24, 25 extending perpendicularly in an upward direction from the feed tray, and other flanges 26, 27 lying against the upper surface of the feed tray, these flanges being secured in any suitable manner, for example, by means of countersunk screws 28 passing through clearance holes in the slide block and entering tapped holes in the retaining plates 22, 23.

For moving the two slide blocks and their associated guide members or fences towards and away from each other in unison, an adjustment mechanism is provided having a single control member, the construction and arrangement of this adjustment mechanism being such as to aflord a relatively high velocity ratio between the guide members or fences and the control member so that the former may be rapidly and conveniently moved to any adjusted position. Furthermore, because of the relatively high velocity ratio the operator will be able to feel readily when the guide members or fences are engaged with the edges of a stack of sheets with a pressure which will result in eflicient operation of the automatic sheet feeding device, it being understood that this pressure exercised upon the lateral edges of the stack of sheets serves to ensure that the automatic sheet feeding device will remove only the topmost sheet, whilst the others are retained.

In a convenient form of mechanism this comprises a relatively long lever arm 29, the inner end of which is pivotally secured at or near the inner end of the tray about an axis perpendicular to the tray and disposed centrally or approximately centrally thereof, the lever being located on the underside of the tray. The lever may be of composite. construction, its inner portion 39 being formed of a length of strip metal, the outer end of which is turned upwardly towards the under surface of the tray andwhich. carries a rod-like extension terminating in a control knob or finger piece 3-2rwhich is thus movable in a translatory fashion along an arcuate path adjacent to the outer end of the tray, this, path being approximately of the same length as: said:edge.

Intermediateits ends this lever is coupled. to the slide blocks in such a manner that these are moved in unison towards or away from the centre of the tray and to corresponding extents. It would, of course, be possible to adopt a system of links for transmitting the required motion to each slide block but we prefer to utilise. a cable system which is operatively connected with said lever.

In these arrangements rotary pulleys supports such as 33 are secured rotatably to the under face of thefeed tray near the outer extremity of each slot and an endless band passes around these pulleys, a portion of the band extending beneath each slot 18, 19.

The band may comprise cable elements 34 secured to the slide blocks in any suitable manner. For example, the slide blocks might be provided with downwardly projecting pillars 35 having transverse openings or bores in which are secured eyelet fittings 36 projecting on opposite sides of the pillars and-having hooks or eyelets to which the chain may be secured.

These eyelet fittings may have threaded shanks, and the transverse bore of the pillar may be correspondingly threaded to enable the position of the slide block to be adjusted relatively to the cable.

One of the pillars by means of which the chain is connected to the slide blocks has a downward extension or pin 37 to which is pivoted a link 38, the other end of which is connected to the lever 29 so that when the control knob of this lever is moved one of'the guide members or'fences is also moved directly by means of this link and the other executes corresponding movement by virtue of the chain system.

With the proportions illustrated the. mechanism thus far described will afford a velocity ratio between the guide members or fences and the control knob of the order of 3.0,, since the control knob is movable adjacent to the outer edge of'the tray through a distance approximately equal to the width thereof, whilst each guide member or. fence has a corresponding movement equal to about one-third the width of. the tray.

The mechanism may inherently furnish sutlicient frictional' resistance for the guide members 'or fences to be retained'in any position to which they may be moved, but if this is not the. casespecial frictional orother nonprohibitive retaining devices may be provided. For instance a pressure frame comprising a pair of spaced bars spring pressedtowards each other and spaced apart so as to receive the control lever between them may be disposed beneath the table parallel thereto and intermediate the point of pivotal attachment of the control lever to the table and'the chain system. Alternatively, the table may have adownwardly, projecting flange, the lower edge. ofwhich. isformed. with a series of notches or recesses. against. which; the outer rod-like extension of the. control lever iszpressedsothat thelatter will normallyv be retained in any one of a number of definite but nonepositively. secured positions.

The. upstanding fianges24, 25 of the guide members orfences themselvesrmay be slotted as at 39 in a directionnperpendicularto the plane-of thefeed tray at longitudinally spaced intervals and removable sheet retaining elements 40 may be engaged selectively in one of the slots of each guide member or fence.

Preferably these elements as seen best in Figures 3 and 4 are formed with ahollow open-sided sheet metal casing 41 which may be of square or rectangular cross section in plan, when in the unstressed condition and pressed inwardly to assume a dovetailed form when inserted in a slot 39, the casing beingrthe freeedges 4 turned outwardly from each other to provide a neck in; which the marginal portions 43 of the guide member or fence adjacent to. the particularslot concerned engage.

Within the tubular casing is disposed the retaining member proper 44 which is formedof sponge rubber or other suitable material having similar physical characteristics, the unstressed cross-section of this rubber being such that when placed in the tubular casing part of it projects-through the enclosed portion and forms an inwardly projecting rib, the inner face 45 of which is of curvate or convex angular form'so that ithas line contact or contact along a relatively narrow zone with the edges of the sheets.

The retaining element of each guide member or. fence will, of course, be placed in the particular slot whichlies adjacent to the outer endof the stack of sheets in use, the actual slot selected thus varying. in. accordance with the dimensions of the-particular sheets in use.

The feed tray may be supported between laterally spaced brackets or extensions 46 attachedto'or forming. part of the body of the duplicating machine in' such a manner that the tray can be raised and loweredin. accordanee withthe thickness of the pile of sheets disposed: on the. feed tray to ensure that the topmost sheet is situated at'the required level in. relation to the fe'e'd path indicated in broken lines at 47 along which it is required to proceed into the machine.

In the arrangement illustrated'the base of the feedtray may be provided with brackets 48 at opposite-sides between which-extendsa rod or tube 49 which is tapped'on opposite ends to receive screws 50 passing through appropriate holes in the extensions 46.

The ends of the rod may be formed with spigots on which the brackets 48 can turn thus permitting the end of the feed tray adjacent to the machine to be raised and lowered aboutthe pivotal axis defined thereby.

For controlling this movement, there is provided a rotary support preferably in theformof'a cam 51 mounted The cam may be operated by a control knob 52- andretained in an adjusted position by a ratchet and pawl indicated respectively at 5354.

In its fully lowered position, the level of the topmost sheet of a stack at'the end thereof adjacent to the machine is indicated by the chain line 55 (Figure 6) and as the stack of sheets is used, this end of the tray may be raised to restore the topmost sheet'to the level indicated by this line.

. In the alternative arrangement illustrated in Figure 7 theplates 22 and.23 of the slides may beprovided with rack-teeth as indicated at 56, and the movement of the slides may be correlated by the interposition of a pinion 5'7 meshing with the opposed racks, thus pinion being rotatably supported upon pin or spindle carried by and 7 extending downwardly from the base 14 of the tray.-

greases movement perpendicular to said guiding faces towards and away from the centre of the feed tray, and in a plane substantially parallel to that of said sheet supporting face, means correlating movement of the sheet guide members constraining same to move towards or away from each other in unison and to corresponding extents comprising slides connected to respective guide members to move in respective opposed directions along substantially rectilinear paths transmission means operatively connected between said slides to impart in response to movement of one of said slides an equal and opposite movement to the other a control lever pivotally supported on the tray for movement in a plane substantially parallel to said base member and means connecting said lever operatively to at least one of said slides to move same along its path by substantially equal increments for a predetermined increment of lever movement at any position in its working range.

2. In a duplicating machine, a feed tray having a base member providing an upper sheet supporting face, said base member having substantially rectilinear guides extending transversely of its length, slides mounted in said guides, sheet guide members carried by respective slides and having opposed inwardly facing sheet guiding faces extending longitudinally of said base member in a sheet feeding direction, a control lever extending lengthwise of the tray and pivotally supported therefrom adjacent to the delivering end of the tray for movement in a plane substantially parallel to said base member and having a portion adapted to be operated manually disposed adjaeent the opposite end of the tray, means operatively connecting to at least one of said slides a part of said lever which is situated intermediate its ends and which is adapted to move in a shallow arcuate path approximately parallel to said guides and a transmission device including oppositely moving elements coacting respectively with said slides constraining same to move in opposite directions along said guides in unison and to equal extents when one of them is moved by operation of said control lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,262,510 Morrison et al Nov. 11, 1941 2,271,954 Rockhill Feb. 3, 1942 2,542,089 Leifer Feb. 20, 1951 2,588,917 Geib Mar. 11, 1952 2,626,149 Holmberg Ian. 20, 1953 2,651,244 Ferguson Sept. 8, 1953 

